Most people think that because great achievements are difficult, they must also feel difficult. But great accomplishments are rarely achieved through mental toughness. Rather, the most successful people find ways to make hard actions repeatable and enjoyable.

Drawing on stories from his own battles with ADHD and procrastination, as well as twelve epic stories from history and pop culture, bestselling author Jia Jiang outlines the four principles of Easy Discipline—Enjoyment, Artistry, Systems, and Yourself—so you can take hard actions on a consistent basis, and love your work in the process. Each principle offers a mindset of Easy Discipline, as well as powerful, practical tools to turn mindset into action.

A love letter to ambitious people everywhere who are disorganized, undisciplined, and distracted, Easy Discipline will give you the mindsets and tools to turn flaws into assets, obstacles into stepstones, and dreams into realities. 

Jiang recently took time to answer some questions from Porchlight about his new book and to recommend some other books beyond his own.  

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Porchlight Book Company: Writing a book is no small undertaking. What compelled you to write this one?

Jia Jiang: Two answers, one philosophical, one practical, both real.

Philosophical: I’ve always had big goals but real flaws: fear, procrastination, distraction, ADHD, and so on. I spent the first half of my life trying to overcome my flaws by grinding through with Hard Discipline. But as soon as I shifted my mindset to focus on enjoyment, to work with human nature instead of against it, I excelled. This book is about helping all the ambitious yet distracted people make that shift.

Practical: I’ve been speaking on overcoming rejection for years. One day my speaking agent blamed me for the slowdown in my business and implied I was becoming old and stale. Instead of being upset, I took the challenge and wrote a whole new talk. It became the foundational idea of Easy Discipline. It goes to show how you can turn criticism, even unfair criticism, into opportunity if you have the right mindset.

PBC: What is one unanswered question you encountered as you wrote the book that you are most interested in answering now?

JJ: Is it productive to turn “talent” into a dirty word?

For the past 20 years, it became trendy to say talent doesn’t matter, that it’s all about mindset and grit. Yet by experimenting and discovering one’s talent and affinity, hard work becomes a lot easier. I was in the grit camp for a long time. Now I’m leaning team talent, or team Yourself (the Y in EASY). I still want to find out just how important talent is. Or whether hard work can be a talent of its own.

PBC: If there is only one thing a reader takes away from reading this book, what would you hope it to be?

JJ: Don’t worship people parading their work ethic. Grinding in the wrong field will make you burn out and miserable. Find out what makes you feel happy and artistic, then go nuts.

PBC: One of the great things about books is that they tend to lead readers to other books. What book[s] related to this topic would you recommend people read after (or perhaps even before) reading your book?

JJ: Two books that had a lot of influence on my thinking are Range by David Epstein and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Range helped me to understand and accept my own scattered mind, and appreciate my ability to connect dots from remote corners in my memory.

The War of Art is like a battle hymn before a writing session. When I feel stuck or timid, I blast Pressfield’s voice into my mind. Epic words would fly out of my fingers.

PBC: What is your favorite book?

JJ: Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis. It not only made me understand the American Revolution, but also got me inside the minds, personalities, fears, and weaknesses of the founding fathers. I also loved Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It instilled in me a love of psychology, marketing, and behavioral economics.

PBC: What are you reading now?

JJ: I’m re-reading On Writing by Stephen King. It’s a classic that’s both autobiographical and practical. There is a story about wiping his butt with poison ivy that makes me laugh out loud at 44 just as it did at 19. Now that’s writing.

PBC: Do you have any future projects in the works that we can look forward to?

JJ: Yes. I already have two more book ideas lined up, one on a time container of ambition, and another on how to build and elevate love over decades.

About the Author

Jia Jiang is an award-winning speaker, entrepreneur, and the bestselling author of Rejection Proof. As a keynote speaker, Jiang has spoken at corporate and industry events and in front of 400,000+ live audiences. His TED talk has millions views and is ranked in the top 1% among all TED talks. Jiang is also the owner of Rejection Therapy, which helps people overcome their fear of rejection and develop mental resilience. His work has been featured in Time, CNN, Today, Business Insider, The Guardian, Wired, and countless news outlets.